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A Welcome from the Principal

Welcome to the new school year! I'm excited to serve as your principal and reconnect with our returning students and to meet the newest members of the Twain community joining us this year. I can truly say without hesitation that it’s an honor and a privilege to lead a school with such a rich tradition of academic excellence and a history of successful partnership between school and home...

Letter from the PTA President

March 12, 2018

Dear Mark Twain Families,

On Thursday, February 15th we held our monthly PTA Association meeting in the Library. We had food from BJs brought in and childcare on site provided by a couple of our wonderful Twain Rec Aides! Some committees that reported this month were membership, DOGS, art education, science enrichment, green team/garden and more. We heard wonderful updates about the programs that are currently affecting our students funded by the PTA.

While we heard great updates, we were unable to vote on new programs, approve previous meeting minutes and handle other important association business due to low attendance. Our PTA unit bylaws require that we meet a quorum* of 14 members in attendance in order to conduct business for the association, including voting on programs that affect each of our students. One of the programs that we discussed, however, were not able to proceed forward with doing, is a Science Family Night in which all Twain families would be invited out to enjoy. Since we were not able to approve this new program, we have tabled it to be discussed again at our March Association Meeting. The biggest item on our agenda to be discussed at our March meeting is the election of our 2018-2019 Executive Board. Without quorum at the March meeting, we will not be able to elect our 2018-2019 Executive Board or proceed forward with a Family Science Night.

The mission statement of the National PTA is "to make every child's potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children." Our goal is to bring parents together with Twain’s administrators and staff to ensure effective engagement and academic achievement for all children. By working together, we ensure our students will receive more. In order to do this, we need to hear from YOU! As current PTA members, you have a voice in everything that your PTA does for all Twain students and families. Nothing can be done without approval from the Association (YOU!) Your voice is as important as the person next to you. All opinions are heard and considered before a vote is held on any program or fundraiser that the PTA does. We invite you to come out to our March Association Meeting and hear about the current and upcoming programs that affect each of our students including art education, Tech for Twain and our year-end celebration, Twain Day.

Remember, "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much." -Helen Keller

Twain's book fair is coming soon!

Parents will click Shop Now, enter their child's first and last name, teacher and room number. There is no charge for shipping and all orders will be delivered to their child's classroom!

The actual fair will run from March 19 through March 23 in Room 6. It will be open every day after school for an hour with the exception of Friday, March 23, when it will be open during movie night from 5:30pm to 7:30 pm.

Each class will also visit during the week and all that info is being sent home on a flyer!

Upcoming PArenting Workshops

STEM IN ACTION: Tortoise vs. Hare!

The students in Mrs. Colburn's fifth grade class were challenged to give the tortoise a boost in his fabled race against the hare. Using their STEM skills, they had to design a vehicle for the tortoise to use during the race - then test and improve upon their design to make it as fast as possible!

Fit-A-Thon Congratulations

Congratulations to Mrs. Steele's class, they were the Top Fundraising Class at the Fit-A-Thon! They'll enjoy a pizza party and be able to show off a trophy all year long.

Mrs. Desmond's class had the Fastest Race Time on our new obstacle course and will get to display their trophy all year as well!

How to use ST Math at Home (Jiji)

Way to Go Twain!

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Twain’s students, parents and teachers, our school saw a significant jump on our SBAC test scores for the 2016-17 school year. To recognize our success, the District awarded Twain $10,000 which will be used for technology and interventions so that we can continue down the path of great success! These students couldn’t be happier.

Box Tops for Education

Calling all BOX TOPS! Thanks to Box Tops For Education, a quick snip of the scissors can earn money for our school. Look for box tops on items you already purchase, clip them out, and turn them into the Twain office throughout the year. You can follow this link for a list of participating products, or simply search your kitchen for the box top image below. Each box top earns ten cents, and they can really add up for our students. For questions about Box Tops for Education, please contact dayna_m@hotmail.com.

2016-2017 Twain Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Ryan Campbell, Twain's Teacher of the Year 2016-2017! This year we had three honorable mentions: Naomi Cheely, Shannon Lockhart and Jessica Glidden. We appreciate all your hard work and dedication to our students. Thank you for those who wrote essays nominating the teachers, especially the essays from students!

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING DISMISSAL TIMES, AFTER SCHOOL CARE AND PAN AM PARK

Twain offers after school supervision from 2:05 pm until 2:50 pm on Twain's blacktop Monday-Friday. On district wide minimum days, there is no after school supervision. When there is a district wide minimum day and school is dismissed at 1:00 pm, parents are provided with advanced notice that there will be no after school supervision on that day. A district wide minimum day is not the same as our regular Thursday dismissal at 1:30 pm. When students are dismissed on Thursdays at 1:30 pm, Twain does offer supervised after school care until 2:50 pm.

If parents choose to utilize Pan Am Park for their after school care arrangement, please be mindful that Monday - Friday, the park does not open its doors until 2:30 pm. This means children are unsupervised from the time that they are dismissed from Twain until the time that Pan Am Park provides supervision. Although this seems like a short period of time, many things can happen in a span of 20 minutes when supervision is nonexistent. On Thursdays when Twain dismisses at 1:30 pm, the park DOES open its doors for supervised after school care at 1:30 pm.

Dr. Williams and the Twain Staff

After School Safety and More

After School Supervision (Park Safety) Since Twain's after school supervision ends at 2:50 pm, a few parents have opted to utilize Pan American Park (Pan Am) for after school care. If you're using Pan Am for after school care, please be mindful of the time that they actually start supervising children. I am bringing this to the attention of our parents because staff members have reported that a few of our Twain students are lingering in the park while waiting for supervision to start at the park. If you're utilizing Pan Am, please have a long talk with your child about safety while walking from Twain to Pan Am Park. Thank you!

Parent Vue If you have not already done so, please sign up for Parent Vue. More information will be shared with you during your child's scheduled parent conference.

Staff Parking Lot For safety reasons, please do not utilize the staff's parking lot to drop students off for school or park in spaces reserved for teachers. Dropping students off in this area creates a safety hazard and it creates an inconvenience for staff members starting their work day.

Twain PTA: Financial Policies, Procedures and Documents

To review recently uploaded documents related to PTA monetary policies and the handling of PTA funds, please visit our PTA page and scroll down. The documents are intended to be of use to those collecting and distributing PTA funds, as well as those seeking reimbursement from the PTA. Questions can be directed to marktwainptatreasurer@gmail.com.

Donations Requested

If you have any extra plastic hangers, we can use them! We also need donations of large pants (size 14-16). Even sweat pants will work. Please bring donations to the box in the office or drop off in the PTA room. Thank you!!

Twain in the News

Twain Named Star School!

Check out what our D.O.G.S. are doing!

Coyote Sightings

Several parents have reported concern about coyotes in Long Beach. At this time, we are working with School Safety to ensure that our students are safe at Mark Twain Elementary School. If you happen to see a coyote near our school during school hours, please contact our school's office so we can contact the appropriate agencies. For more information about safety and prevention, please visit this link.

As we’ve seen in recent weeks, our schools are not immune to the potential threats that so many other schools nationwide have been dealing with. We appreciate your heightened awareness of this issue, and we continue to encourage everyone in our school communities to report any suspicious information or activity that could impact school safety.

Threats to our schools are not harmless, and they are not funny. They take valuable resources and time from our school district and the law enforcement agencies who work with us each day to keep our schools safe. Threats cause anxiety for parents, students and staff, and they can disrupt the important work of teaching and learning. Students who make threats face consequences that linger long after the threat is made. We reiterate the Long Beach Police Department’s recent statement about such threats:

“The Long Beach Police Department takes all potential threats of violence very seriously and thoroughly investigates all reported incidents,” Chief Robert Luna said. “Making any kind of threat whether in person or online, is illegal and has serious consequences.”

Those consequences, as we also have seen in recent weeks, can include suspension, expulsion, arrest and potential prosecution under the law. Students who make threats, even as a “joke,” can quickly find themselves facing the entire range of these consequences.

We urge parents to discuss this matter with their children. In light of the senseless loss of lives in recent school shootings nationally, it is completely inappropriate and unacceptable to make threats, even as a “joke.”

We have appreciated everyone’s support during this challenging time. Again, we continue to encourage students, parents and staff to immediately report any information that could impact the safety of others. With your help, we can continue to provide safe schools and the best possible education for our students.

State law requires all public schools to create a School Accountability Report Card (SARC). The purpose of the report card is to provide parents and the community with important information about your child's school, which includes:

School Description and Mission

School Programs and Instructional Materials

Opportunities for Parent Involvement

Test Results

Safety Plan

Facilities

We invite you to view the School Accountability Report Card (SARC) for your child's school. You can find your school's SARC here.